Attack on Titan: The White Titan
by HayatoA72
Summary: This is my First fanfiction, it's Oc x Annie Leonhart while trying to keep her as in character as possible. Any Pictures I use are NOT mine. Adrian Austerlitz-Conner, born in Wall Sina to a moderately wealthy family, moved to Shinganshina District 7 years before the appearance of the Colossal Titan. This fanfiction covers Part 1 of Adrian and Annie's story, please enjoy
1. Prologue

Prologue

"_On That Day, the day that the Colossal Titan first appeared outside of Wall Maria, humanity was reminded of its weakness. Of the humiliation of living in a cage. The day that Wall Maria fell, humanity was awoken from its false peace. On that day, home became a pen. And Humanity cattle." - Armin Arlert_

A young boy sat up in his bed silently. He had short brown hair with olive colored skin and blue eyes, he wore a black long sleeve shirt with dark green pants. The boy's name was Adrian Austerlitz-Conner. He let out a small sigh as he got out of bed and walked over the large window that was parallel to his bed as well as the wall it was up against. The brunette boy opened the window and looked out into the city of Shiganshina. He looked at the sky then at the 50 meter high walls that surrounded the city in a semi-circle, which connected to the much larger circle of the outermost wall; Wall Maria. Adrian scratched the back of his head as he turned back into his room, his room was very neat and tidy save for his bed. His room was of a fairly decent size, not so small that someone would feel cramped but not so big that there was too much space. The items in the room consisted of a large wooden bookshelf that was full from top to bottom with books. Most them were in relatively bad condition, the reason for this was because Diana like most of the residents of Shiganshina was poor. In addition to this bookshelf, there was a small desk that was next to the door, as well as a dresser.

Adrian yawned as he walked out into the long hallway and downstairs. "Good morning Adrian." A black haired 20-year-old woman said. She had soft brown eyes, and lightly tanned skin as well as a small mole on her cheek with a rounded face. She stood at 5'6, with her hair just below neck length. "Good morning Diana." The boy responded as he stretched. Diana and Adrian weren't related by blood, but they did have a kind of brother-sister relationship. Although the truth of the matter was that Diana was Adrian's guardian, after the deaths of Adrian's parents three years prior she took over due to the fact that his sister, Alexandria was a Section Commander in the Survey Corps. "How'd you sleep?" Diana asked as she put Adrian's food on his plate while he sat down. "Pretty well, for the most part, no nightmare this time." He responded with a small smile. "That's good to hear." The dark haired woman said before adding, "We'll be going over to Dr. Jaeger's today as well." Adrian stopped eating for a moment, "Hm? Why?" "It's time for your checkup." The boy groaned. "Whhhhhyyyyyyy?" He asked. "Beeeeecccccaaauuuusssseeeeee I said so, I'm your guardian and it's my job to take care of you when your big sister isn't around," Adrian mumbled a few words under his breath. "What was that Little cub?" The boy rolled his eyes at Diana's nickname for him. "It was nothing." He responded as he finished his food, the brunette boy stood and was about to leave the house only for the 23-year-old woman to grab him by the ear. "And where do you think you're going?" "Out to play with my friends," Diana smirked and tugged on his ear. "Ow ow ow! That hurts!" "You can't go out till you clean your plate." She tugged again. "Ok ok!" Adrian said before she let him go. He sighed and went to clean his plate and silverware. After doing his morning chores Adrian left the house. "Be back by noon." "Got it!" The boy called out as he closed the door. It was humid outside, with very few clouds in the skies. The boy smiled a bit before going off to his friends.

Adrian met up with his friends, they consisted of Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, along with Eren Jaeger. Although those three were not his only friends, his other friends were Alphonse, Edward, and Adeline. Alphonse was a boy with oddly yellow eyes, and blonde hair. He normally wore a pair of dark brown trousers, a dark green long sleeved shirt, Edward, Alphonse's brother wore a pair of black trousers with dark brown shoes and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt. Adeline wore a white dress a with a light brown jacket over it and a pair of dark blue shoes. She had fair skin, blue eyes, and chestnut brown hair. Adrian found her cute, and had a crush on her, not that he would ever admit to it. Adrian walked decided to head over to Edward and Alphonse's house first, however it turned out that they were heading over to his own so they met up halfway. The trio decided to go get Adeline, figuring that she was done with her chores by now. On the way there the boys heard a commotion, so they went to check it out.

"Stop right there!" The trio heard a familiar voice yell. "Eren," Edward said a sigh. "Come on let's go help him out." Adrian and Alphonse gave a nod, and the three boys ran to where they heard their friend's voice. As they turned the corner they saw Armin against the wall of a house, and his three bullies facing Eren with their fists up. 'Why do you always try to be the Hero Eren?' Adrian thought to himself. "Let's ram them," Alphonse suggested. Edward gave a nod. "Itching for a beating huh idiot." One of the bullies said before all three of them were knocked to the ground by the trio. "What the heck?" Another bully exclaimed as he felt the weight on top of him, he looked up and saw Adrian on of him, pinning his arms. Adrian was of course much smaller and younger than the 12-year-old, so obviously he wasn't able to hold him down long.

The bully thrashed under Adrian, quickly getting his arm free and elbowing the younger boy in the face, causing him to be knocked back. Alphonse and Edward weren't doing much better. Edward was being pinned to a wall, his face smashed up against it with his arm twisted. Alphonse was on the ground holding his stomach and vomiting while the largest of the three bullies smirked. "You damn brats!" The one that elbowed Adrian said. The younger boy's nose was bleeding as he held it, the bully quickly got up then grabbed Adrian, preparing to punch him in the face only to be stopped. He got a swift kick to the gut by Eren. Of course, this didn't really hurt him, in fact, it made him much angrier. He backhanded Eren, knocking him to the ground, this, of course, lead to a hard punch in the stomach by Mikasa. It hurt the bully quite a bit, enough to make him stumble back holding himself. 'D-Damn brat.' He thought before lunging at the girl; he was suddenly grabbed the collar and yanked back.

A woman, standing at 5'8 wearing a Survey Corps uniform underneath her green cloak, along with her ODM gear, as well as a dark blue bandana around her neck, with a dark grey dress shirt. She had oddly white hair, that was tied into a ponytail ((I can't really describe it, it's kind of like Hanji's hairstyle, but more straight . . . I guess. Can't really describe hairstyles XD)). The woman also had the olive colored skin with a few freckles on her cheeks, the woman was 25-year-old Alexandria Austerlitz-Conner; Adrian's older sister and a Section Commander in the Survey Corps. "That's enough." She said in a very calm voice. "You three get out of here, before I put in jail." Alexandria was bluffing of course, but given her tone, it was hard to tell if she was joking or not. The body she held by the collar struggled against her grip, unable to get out of it. "Head home." She said simply before letting the boy she held go. His friends had already run off, he did the same.

Alexandria let out a sigh as she helped her younger brother up. "How many times have I told all of you to stop getting into fights?" She asked the group of kids as Eren helped Armin up. "They were beating up Armin, what did you expect us to do?" Edward commented as he fixed his shirt. Adrian dusted off his clothes, as Eren asked, "Why were they beating you up Armin?" Armin looked at his friends and responded, "I started talking about how the walls wouldn't last forever, and that humans would need to go outside eventually. They started beating me up and calling me a heretic." Eren got an angered look on his face as Alexandria removed her bandana to clean up the blood on her brothers face. "Hold it to your nose for a bit, it will stop bleeding soon." She commented. Her younger brother gave a nod and held it as Eren and Armin continued to talk, after a few moments Alexandria said, "I'm gonna go see about Diana alright? I'll be back in a bit." "Ok," Adrian responded before she left.

"Why does simply wanting to go outside turn everybody against us?" Eren questioned angrily as Edward and Alphonse went to go get Adeline. "It's been peaceful within the walls for over a century, and to keep the risks of people going outside low, the government made it forbidden to even speak about going outside. . . but these walls can't last forever." Eren, Mikasa, and Adrian listened what Armin said before the brown haired boy looked up at the walls. Unlike Eren, Adrian didn't have some grand aspiration to go outside Walls . . . but the idea did intrigue him quite a bit; he did wonder what was beyond them. He looked from the walls to the sky and remembered his parents. He was curious as to what they would say about this topic, they had both been Scouts, and Alexandria had followed in their footsteps. Suddenly the ground shook and a loud explosion could be heard, causing the group to stumble and fall. "What the heck was that?" Adrian muttered as he watched smoke go into the sky outside the wall. The group stood before Armin ran out ahead of them to go see what happened, Mikasa, Eren, and Adrian followed suit. Armin, Eren, and Mikasa suddenly stopped as they reached the small town square. Adrian looked at them then followed their gaze, his eyes widened in shock.

'T-That has to be impossible ...' Adrian thought. 'The wall is 50 meters!' Everyone watched in horror as the giant skinless hand of a titan gripped the wall, only to moments later see it's gigantic head look over. From what could be seen, the Titan's entire body was probably just muscle tissue and bones underneath. The amount of steam that came from the creature was immense as it looked down at the town. It seemed to lean forward, then slowly lean back, moments later it kicked a giant hole in the gate.

Adrian was blown back by force of the kick, being knocked to the ground as giant chunks of the Wall rained down on the city below. The boy was in shock as looked to his left and someone half crushed by a boulder begging for help. He was snapped out of this state moments later due to the screaming of those around him, they were sprinting away from the breached wall as fast as they could. "Mikasa!" He heard Armin call out as the two ran away. He then felt someone yank him to his feet. "Run boy!" A random man said. Adrian did just that, heading for his house, 'Please be alive!' He thought, hoping that Diana and Alexandria were ok. 'Please please please.' He continued to think. After a few minutes, he found his home half destroyed by a boulder. "Diana!" He screamed as he slammed, through the front door. The home was completely destroyed, there were broken dishes all over the floor, along with everything else. Everything was either smashed or completely destroyed. Adrian's eyes quickly scanned the room, there wasn't any blood anywhere that he could see. 'Did she get out?' He wondered before Diana burst in the door, she immediately ran to the boy and hugged him tightly. He hugged back. "Thank the gods!" Diana said happily before adding, "We have to go, now before the evacuation boats are full." "What about Alex?" "She's fine, she's going to meet us in Trost." Adrian gave a nod. "Ok." Diana then pulled him by the arm and the pair started to run towards the inner gates, to get to the boats in time

Alexandria sprinted through down an alley. 'Damn damn damn!' She thought before pressing the triggers of her ODM. The wires shot into the wall of a house before she went flying towards them, she detached them midway, getting a brief look at the city as a whole. It was total destruction, there were destroyed homes, and people being eaten everywhere. "Hey Scout!" she heard someone yell, the white-haired female looked and 5 members of the Garrison on a roof. Alexandria adjusted her trajectory and landed on the roof. "What do we do?" One of them asked immediately. Despite the disparity of the situation the female found this funny, everyone including other soldiers always bashed the Survey Corps, calling them lazy, and useless; but now that everything went to shit, they are the first ones that get called on to help. "You start getting the city evacuated and escort the citizens to safety." "That's it? That's all you have?!" Another Garrison member asked angrily, but obviously panicked. The woman showed no reaction. "You think there should be more?" "YES! I thought you, one of the high and mighty Scouts would have a better idea." Alexandria sighed in annoyance. "Do you know how to immobilize a titan?" "What" "Do you know how to immobilize a titan?" "What kind of question is that?!" "Answer it." The male narrowed his eyes and said. "You . . . cut its throat." "And that is why you're going to as I say, now go." She responded in an authoritative tone. The group of men did as she said, reluctantly. Alexandria turned to the breach, with the Titans still pouring in before pulling out her swords from her scabbard. "Ok . . . let's hope it's not my time today." She jumped off the roof and pressed the triggers. In truth the woman didn't know how long she'd last, her aim was to kill as many titans as she could, with enough gas left to get back over the wall. 'That's all I've gotta do.' She never envisioned anything like this, she never thought her brother would ever have to see the horrors she saw outside the walls, but it was too late for that now. The white-haired woman flew towards the Titans blades out.

Diana and Adrian got onto the boats just in time, it was cramped and crowded. The young boy was in shock in truth, along the way he saw Edward and Alphonse's parents get eaten, he also saw Adeline get eaten just as she ran to help someone. . . honestly, the boy felt broken inside. He tried to push his feelings down like he did with his parent's death, Diana saw the look on his face and hugged him; causing him to immediately begin crying almost uncontrollably. "Shhh." Diana said as she rocked back and forth slowly, "It's ok, just let it all out." The woman hated this situation entirely, despite the thoughts that the walls wouldn't last forever; she didn't think they would fall during her lifetime. She thought they would fall long after her death, and Adrian's, generations down the line really. She looked down at the boy currently crying into her bosom and felt sorry for him, it was bad enough he saw his parents deaths first hand, but now he saw his home and friends killed and destroyed. He was only 11 and he saw more death than someone his age should have. Diana was well aware that he kept his feelings bottled up, and felt it was better that he get all of it out now. In all honesty, though they had a brother-sister relationship, she felt almost like a surrogate mother to him at times, in a way that's what she was.

Diana was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by loud thundering noises, the sound itself seemed to make the ground shake. They stopped for a moment before quickly gaining speed, 'Is that a Titan?' she wondered as thundering sound started to get closer and faster. All of a sudden something smashed through the closing gate of Wall Maria, it skidded to a halt. Diana and Adrian both looked at it, along with everyone else on the boats. It was a titan, with glowing eyes, and short silver hair. Its skin appeared to be hardened, like some form of armor. The titan mouth guard, or whatever it was opened up revealing its teeth. It then opened its mouth and let out steam, almost as if it seemed winded from ramming into the wall. It then stood and turned back towards the gate into Shiganshina then went in. "They broke through Wall Maria…" Someone mutter in horror. Adrian clutched to Diana silently and tightly, holding on as if someone would yank him away. He wasn't sure what to think now, had the gate to Shiganshina not been destroyed the government would have probably just reinforced the gate. . . . but now the whole territory of Wall Maria had been lost to the Titans.

Alexandria rode through the hole made by the Armored Titan, during its assault, she managed to procure a horse and avoid the Titans when getting out, just barely. She was down to fumes and used up all her blades. 'It's been about an hour now . . . the boats should be getting close to Trost by now.' She thought. 'Adrian and Diana should be waiting for me by the time I get there.' That's what she hoped anyway. During her attack, she lost her cloak, jacket, and some of her shirt, in addition to one of her boots, in short, she needed to get cleaned up . . . and get a new bra. As she rode the horse towards Trost she thought about what made the hole. 'That giant titan appears and kicks the wall in. Then it disappears immediately afterward, seemingly with no trace.' The whole thing didn't make sense to her, granted she didn't know where titans came from but them just showing up via lightning strike couldn't have been possible. Alexandria looked behind her at the destroyed gate. Even from here she could see that the Titans were still coming through. 'I'll have to report this to Commander Shadis.' She thought, honestly she wasn't sure how much the information she had could help but she'd do what she could.

A/N: Tell me what you guys think of the prologue, this is my first story on Fanfiction.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - His Choice

"_When you survive a great trauma you have two options open to you. Move forward, or to the side, because you can't stop and you can't go back." - Anonymous _

Diana let out a small sigh as she sat down in a bed. She was smart enough to grab her stash of money before she left, she had about 900 coin saved up. ((Honestly, they never explained how the money system in AoT works)). Due to the money she had saved, she able to herself and Adrian a room for the night. It was 75 coin in total, 25 for Adrian and 50 for herself. Diana was surprised in truth, the rates weren't as high as she thought they'd be. She figured that it'd be a 100 each for them but it was a relief for her in truth.

"Adrian are you hungry?" Diana asked as she looked at him. Adrian was laying in the same bed Diana was sitting on, he was just staring at the ceiling. He was still traumatized by the things he'd witnessed. She could see the emptiness in his eyes, it saddened her. When he didn't answer she stood up and headed to the bathroom. After using it she came out and heard Adrian's stomach rumble. "Guess he is hungry." She muttered before going over to him. The 23 year old went over to boy and took his hand. "Come on, we're going to get something to eat." Adrian didn't say a word, he got up and Diana let his hand go. The pair then walked out of their room, Diana locking the door behind them then starting downstairs. Adrian followed still silent.

When Adrian and Diana came out of the inn they started walking towards one of the few open restaurants there were. It was a small place in between a bakery and a bookstore. When they walked into the restaurant there were a few people were eating. Diana and Adrian got glares as they walked in, as for why it was pretty simple to explain. The pair were refugees from Shiganshina, so of course there was going to be shortage of food for everyone in the district.

"Excuse me, can we get a booth." Diana asked the man behind the bar. He looked up at her after placing his finger in a book then closing it. "Sure, take one by the window." He said before gesturing to the booths going along the window. "Thank you." She said before going to sit down, Adrian sitting down across from her. After a waiter got their order, Diana started a conversation. "Alexandria will be meeting us soon, tomorrow actually." Adrian smiled slightly at this. "That's good." He said quietly before looking out the window. He saw three people going into an alley, a girl with blonde hair wearing a grey coat that went down to her knees, with brown trousers, and a pair of simple black shoes. The other two were dressed in the same clothing. One was a boy with blonde hair who looked to be about a year older than the girl. The other boy was taller than both of the other two. He had black hair. Adrian looked away from them and back at Diana.

"So when is Alex gonna show up? I mean like what time?" He asked. "Around noon or so." Diana responded. Adrian gave a nod before looking back towards the alley. He saw the two boys leave, so he assumed the girl was left there. After a few minutes the waiter came with their order, and the pair in ate silence. When they were done, Diana left a tip. However when they prepared to leave it started raining heavily. "Damn." Diana muttered. "Guess we'll have to run back to the inn." She said. Adrian nodded silently and she grabbed his hand and started running back in the rain. As they ran Adrian saw the girl again. She was sitting against the wall with her arms around her legs with the hood of her cloak pulled over her head.

Adrian stopped and pulled away from Diana's grip. "Adrian!" She called back to him. "Can I . . . Can I have some money?" "What?" Diana questioned, "Please, I just need a hand full." "Why?!" "Please!" Adrian pleaded, before Diana went into her pouch and pulled out a hand full of coin. She gave him two handfuls and he ran back to the ally. The blonde girl looked up at him, with an empty but confused expression. Adrian said nothing but walked up to her, carrying the handfuls of coin. He kneeled down to her level and showed her the money.

"What are you doing?" The blonde asked, not understanding the gesture from Adrian. Adrian didn't say anything, as he dropped the coin into her lap. Diana watched this silently as she got soaked by the rain. It made her smile, but she said,

"Adrian! Come on! It's time to go!" Adrian and the girl had been looking into each other's eyes not saying anything, when Diana called him he broke his gaze and ran back to her, the pair then left quickly.

Annie blinked trying to understand what just happened, why did that boy give her this money. She looked down at the coin that was currently in her lap. _Why did he give me this? _She wondered. _And who was he?_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - The Cadet Corps Part 1

"_They've already been through their rites of passage. This is nothing compared to what they saw that day." __Anonymous _

Alexandria finished writing her recommendations. She was sitting at her desk, in her room

She then folded it up and put it in an envelope. After doing so she stared at it silently, thinking about the effect of what she was doing. She wondered if it would be the best course of action, while she contemplated this in her mind she remembered 3 days before.

3 days before

Alexandria listened to Diana then looked at Adrian sleeping in the bed. "So . . . he wants to join the Scouts." She muttered. Diana nodded. "Yeah." Alexandria sighed and sat on Diana's bed, rubbing her eyes. "Damn." She muttered before removing her scarf and putting it away. Alexandria was wearing a simple pair of black pants, a brown leather coat, and a white dress shirt, she had the top 3 buttons undone, revealing a small amount of cleavage and a dark blue shirt she wore underneath. This was one of the rare times she let her hair down, it went down to just below her neckline. "What's wrong?" Diana asked as she walked over to the dresser, next to the door. There was a half full cup of water, she picked up and drank a little bit as Alexandria responded. "I hoped he wouldn't want that life." Diana nodded as she looked her friend. "Yeah . . . it makes sense that you wouldn't want that for him, but wasn't you guys mom and dad in the Scouts to." Alex nodded. "Yeah . . . but to be honest, I think he's been through enough already. The last thing he needs is to see his friends get eaten." The brunette looked down at her cup silently for a while. "He's not a little kid anymore." Alexandria looked up at her. "He's still to young to make his own choices." She said. "You know how stubborn he is." "He's 11." "Alex." "What?" "You and I both know we can't stop him . . ." Alexandria sighed in annoyance. "Just like dad. . ." "Even if you don't want him to go, he still will; you and I both know that he won't be contempt picking crops and managing a farm." Alexandria said nothing and stared at the floor, with her head in her hands. Eventually she said, "I suppose you're right. . . besides I'd rather have him be able to fight his enemy than to be defenceless." Diana smiled as she set the cup down. "Think of it this way, when he joins the Scout's you'll be able to watch out for him." Alexandria nodded with a slight smile, "What about you?" She asked. "Me? Well . . . I was thinking about joining the Military as well, I know I'm a bit older than they normally allow but I figure, it'd be better than staying in an empty house; besides I can't just let you and Adrian risk your lives all the time." The albino woman smiled a bit more before getting up and going over to her brother.

She removed the red crystal necklace from around her neck and placed it in his hand; then closed it. She then kissed his forehead. "Stay safe little brother." Alexandria walked over to Diana and hugged her. "Thank you for keeping him safe." Diana smiled softly. "Your welcome." She said before the albino left.

Alexandria finished up her letter of recommendation She wouldn't have to submit it for awhile, but wanted to get it done now, so that when the time came it'd be ready and waiting. She folded the letter up and put it into an envelope, sealed it, then placed it in her desk in the top drawer. Alexandria got up and walked over to the window and looked out at the clear night sky, feeling a sense of pride. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Alexandria got up and answered it, it was Commander Erwin. "Commander? Is there something wrong?" "No, I just came to speak with you about place in the Scouting Formation."

One year later

The cadets all stood with their hands behind their backs silently, they wore the standard cadet military uniform which consisted of a pair of knee high boots, white pants, a simple belt, and a beige leather jacket with the symbol of of bright grey shield, with a white cross going along it, on top of that was a pair of crossed swords. The symbol was on the right breast pocket, the back and on both shoulders of the jacket

Adrian stood with his hands behind his back silently, he was in the first row of cadets in Group A, which directly faced Group B. Across from him was the blonde haired girl he'd given money the year before. She had a fairly blank look on her face only with furrowed brows, giving her a somewhat angry demeanor. Adrian remembered her, vaguely however he doubted that she remembered him at all. He himself had no real expression, more just a normal one. Of course given that they were standing directly across from each other, he was staring into her eyes as well. It was bit odd, for him at least. He'd never held eye contact with someone this long and given that she was staring back just made it feel awkward. The worst part was that she didn't seem to be looking past him, or at his forehead to make it seem like she was looking at him, she was looking directly into his eyes. Adrian was brought out of this thought by the sound of Commander Shadis' footsteps.

Commander Shadis stopped in front of Adrian and looked at him for a moment, as if looking for something. After that moment he kept walking. Shadis was a man with darkened skin, sunken in eyes, giving him a naturally intimidating appearance; especially when angry. He wore a dark brown coat, with the Cadet symbol on it, an ash grey dress shirt, and the same knee high boots and pants that the cadets wore. He was also bald, with wrinkles around his eyes showing his age, something very rare among those outside of the Military Police and Garrison. Keith was the former commander of the Scout Regiment, the fact that he reached the age he did had to have been nothing short of a miracle.

Keith continued walking, he stopped in front of a boy with two tone hair, bright brown the top, and dark brown on the bottom. "Who the hell are you?!" He asked the boy, "Jean Kirschstein from Trost District, Sir!" He responded. "Why are you here?!" The current commander of the cadet corps yelled. Jean smiled a bit and responded, "To join the Military Police Sir, the best of the best."

Adrian looked over, hearing this response a bit happy that his gaze with the girl had been broken. He'd started to feel really weird staring into those blue eyes. When he did look over at the boy and the commander, the latter responded with, "So you want to live in the interior do you?" Jean's expression changed slightly, before he got headbutted. Jean fell to the ground holding his head. "No One told you to sit recruit!" Keith yelled as he looked at Jean. "If you can't handle this, you can forget about the Military Police!" Keith then walked away, going over to another cadet, after a few more he arrived at a guy named Connie Springer, as he yelled at boy everyone noticed something. The sound of food being eaten. Keith, who had been holding up Connie by his head, dropped him.

"Hey you." The bald man said to the cadet eating. She was a girl with fair skin, and dark (I guess maroon colored hair, I'm honestly not sure so I'll just say red) red hair, that was up in a ponytail. (Once again, hair isn't my strong suit so bear with me.) She was of average height with dark hazel colored eyes. When Keith called out, she looked around a bit and and kept eating. "I'm talking to you! Who the hell are you?!" Keith asked, yelling at the girl. She quickly swallowed and performed the salute. "Sasha Braus from Dauper Village, South side of Wall Rose!" The commander put his hands behind his back. "Sasha Braus, what's that your clutching in your right hand?" "A steamed potato, Sir!" She responded. "It sat in the mess hall, begging to be eaten." He looked down at her. "The theft I understand, but why eat it here of all places?" "I felt it would be a waste if it got cold." "No. I don't understand. Why are you eating the potato?" "Are you asking me why people eat potatoes? I'm surprised you don't know sir." When she got no immediate response, Sasha broke off a piece of the potato and offered it to Keith. He took it and looked at the piece. "Half?" He looked back at Sasha, who gave him a small smile.

Things continued after Sasha was told to run till the sunset. After the "Rite of Passage" was done, the cadets got situated in their barracks, naturally the boys and girls were seperated. By the time that was done, it was close to sunset, and it was time for the cadets to eat dinner.

Adrian sat with Armin, Eren, and Mikasa. He sat across from Eren with other cadets around them both, he'd told them where he was from and as expected it drew a small crowd. Adrian tried to ignore them however, Eren was the one answering their questions anyway. "Yes, we saw The Big Guy." Eren said as Adrian let out annoyed sigh. "Whoa." A cadet said, "How big was it?" "Big enough to look over the Wall." Adrian commented before taking a bite of his bread. The crowd looked over at him. "I heard it was big enough to step over the Wall completely." Someone said. "It was big but not that big." Eren responded "And the Armored Titan?" "Is that what it's being called, in all the panic it was just another titan to me." "What do titans look like?" Someone asked causing both Adrian and Eren to stop. Adrian remembered seeing the titans eat members of the garrison when they got citizens evacuated, as Diana carried them to safety. "Let's stop with the questions." One of the group said, this boy was Marco, he had fair skin, freckles, and with short black hair and bangs that came out on either side of his forehead. "I'm sure there are things they don't want to remember."

Adrian felt fear begin to rise up in him, he quickly got up and left the mess hall, feeling himself start to hyperventilate. His breathing got quicker and quicker as he ran behind the boys dorm. Adrian gripped his chest. _Calm down! Calm down! Calm down! _He thought to himself as he leaned up against the side of the building. It took him 20 minutes, as the events he went through played in his head repeatedly. He squeezed his shirt tightly and shut his eyes just as tight. Adrian got fed up as continued to breath quickly. He ended up slamming his fist into wall to release his anxiety. His breathing slowly returned to normal. When it did something landed in his lap, it was a canteen of water. He looked up and saw the blonde girl walking back to the mess hall. _That was . . . Annie wasn't it?_ He wondered, trying to remember the girls name before standing, canteen in his hand. Adrian opened it and drank the water down. _Why did she . . . _He wondered as Annie walked back into the mess hall. Adrian let out a small sigh as he brushed it off, and rubbing his eyes. "Stay focused." He told himself as Krista walked up to him. "Adrian?" She asked.

Krista was piete girl with long bonde hair. She was incredibly cute, to pretty much everyone, almost angelic. "H-" She cut him off. "Krista." she said immediately cutting him off. Adrian blinked but chose not to question it, this time. "It's been a very long time." "Yeah . . . 6 years." Adrian responded with a smile to her.

The next day, the training for the 104th cadet corps began. This training determined whether or not those who survived the first day of training, would be allowed to stay. It was preparation for the Omni Directional Maneuver gear use, the ODM was the primary equipment given to soldiers in the military. Adrian was next up, along with Eren, Mikasa, Jean, Connie and Sasha. When they went up Adrian felt a lot of anxiety over this. If felt like a crossroads for him, if he failed he'd be sent to the fields, if he succeeded he'd be one step closer to becoming a Scout.

Adrian walked forward, and his belt was clasped. Someone started to turn the cranks and he was slowly lifted into the air, he immediately tried to stay balanced, finding it difficult. He adjusted himself, and imagined staying upright, when he finally got balanced it felt weird. After a few minutes he was lowered down. Adrian looked over after seeing everyone begin to snicker and laugh a bit, he then saw Eren hanging upside down. _Well . . . thats unfortunate. _He thought before Eren was let down. Mikasa walked off with him as the pair, along with Armin. If Adrian had to guess, they were going to wait for everyone to finish. He walked back to his place in line and watched the rest of the cadets go, not really seeing the reason to stay but at the same time not wanting to be punished for leaving.

A/N

((I know that the quick time skips are a pain, but they only really do the 104th Cadet thing in like 2 to 3 episodes, and there's not that much to cover, unfortunately. I'll add in some extra little side stuff to kind of beef it up a bit, to give some background of everything, mostly with Adrian and Annie to give them their bit, and just all around extra stuff to extend the Cadet stuff))


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - The Cadet Corps Part 2

"_-whether or not you're fit to be a Soldier isn't up to you."_

_Mikasa Ackerman_

Adrian smiled slightly as he watched Eren finally get his balance. It turned out that his friend had gotten a bad belt, something of a relief for him, Mikasa, and Armin. While Adrian was worried about Eren, he knew that he had to be more concerned with his own performance. Ever since Shinganishina Eren had changed, instead of wanting to go outside the walls to see the world, he wanted to gain the skills to kill every titan; the Colossal and Armored Titan's specifically. _Looks like we've all taken the first step. Just a few more years, and we'll be able to see outside. _Adrian thought. "It looks like those of you who passed can officially qualify as Titan fodder, I'll be starting you'll ODM training immediately ." Shadis said. "The rest you will be sent to the fields!" "Sir!" Everyone said in unison, giving the salute. Shadis looked Eren and thought, _Be proud Grisha, your son has finally become a soldier. _After Eren's success it took over an hour to get all the remaining recruits into the ODM gear assigned to them. Once that was done they were taken to the forests to get hands on experience

Adrian flew through the air, after finally overcoming his fear, when he first used the ODM things were a bit . . . difficult for him. He was more focused on keeping him himself calm than anything else. Now though, that fear was diminishing with every press of the trigger, and it felt amazing. The reason he felt the way he did wasn't just because he was getting over his fear, it was the fact that he could finally become a Scout and join his sister. Slowly but surely, he would make his dream come true. After a few moments though, reality hit him again. The Scout Regiment had a 30% mortality rate. Given how small the actual force was compared to that of the Garrison, and the Military Police. 30% might as well have been 90%, especially since a few scouts died every expedition. Adrian would normally just push something like this to the back of his mind, because if he focused on it to much he would have another anxiety attack. At the moment, flying through the air, he felt calm. _3 more years . . . _He thought

After a few hours of training on the ODM the recruits went to dinner for the night. Adrian ate his food silently while Eren, and Armin talked with some of the other recruits, mostly congratulating each other; Eren especially due to his succeeding with the busted gear. Adrian let out a quiet yawn before looking over and seeing Annie sitting by herself. She sat on the far end of the long table as other recruits talked amongst themselves. He got up, leaving a half eaten plate of food assuming Sasha would probably steal what he hadn't touched.

"Hey, you're Annie right?" He asked the petite blonde. She put her cup down and looked at the blue eyed brunette in front of her. "What do you want?" She asked, looking at him with seemingly emotionless almost cold eyes. "Just . . . um. . . last night when I was outside, were you the one who gave me the water last night?" Adrian asked as he scratched the back of his head. Annie let out a small sigh, "Yes I was" She said in a cold tone, "Thank you." "Don't think anything of it, I'm not here to make friends." Adrian gave a nod. "Got it . . . I'll see you later. I guess." He left the mess hall without a word, he went to barracks to get some sleep. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered about that girl, Annie. He thought about the look in her eyes, and the look on her face.

Adrian let out a small sigh and closed his eyes. She was from Wall Maria, or at least he assumed she was. The look on her face seemed to be one of sadness to a certain degree, but also a mask. In short, she seemed to be a mystery to him. His first impression lead him to believe that she didn't buy into the whole surviving in the interior. "Hmmmm . . ." He hummed to himself. She intrigued him. He got the feeling that she had a lot pain, or rather she carried a burden with her that weighed on her. Annie's look reminded him a lot of Alexandria's and their parents. There were times when his mom, dad or older sister would be reminded of something having to do with the scouts, the expression was more or less the same. After letting out another sigh he pushed the thoughts to back of his mind and drifted off to sleep.

One year later

Adrian rode on horseback silently through the desertlike region of Wall Rose, the 104th Cadets had been split into two seperate groups on a training mission. The mission itself was pretty simple. Both groups leave from two seperate locations , then meet up in the forest. After that they would trade information and go along the other groups route to get back. There were record keepers to record what each group saw, and primarily how long the trip took. Adrian was assigned to Thomas's group, with Mikasa as the record keeper; the group was made up of Annie, Reiner, Bertolt, and Ymir, along with a few others.

Adrian looked out at the desertlike area as he rode his horse. This mission itself seemed to have more of relaxed and easy feel to it than anything else. Apparently, from what he understood the aim of the exercise was to evaluate how the cadets would sustain themselves when there wasn't a crisis. The way Adrian saw it however, was in the unlikely event of being stranded outside the walls, or something similar, they'd have the will to manage on their own without a chain of command. Overall it didn't matter that much, not to Adrian anyway. Despite what Shadis said about the training, it seemed incredibly simple. The worst they'd encounter in the woods would be a random boar or something like that. Plus the likelihood of actually surviving outside the walls for even a short amount of time was slim, especially since there was no way of knowing exactly how many titans were there, along with that there was the factor being with or without a horse; and whether or not you had ODM gear.

As Thomas's group reached shady spot, in between a bunch of boulders that was plenty wide enough for everyone, they stopped. Adrian got off his horse and grabbed a towel from his bag and wiped his face off silently. Mikasa suddenly looked up at a tree as a bird flew off. "You alright?" Thomas asked as he looked over at her. "Nothing, it's just me." She responded, causing Reiner, Bertolt and Annie to look over at her.

Adrian walked over to his horse and reached into his satchel, then pulled out a carrot. He started to feed his horse feed his horse silently while glancing at Annie for brief moments. He would honestly admit, he found her incredibly attractive, despite the facial expression she always wore. Then again, that expression may have been part of why he found her attractive in the first place. Honestly he wasn't entirely sure why Annie intrigued him, over the year that they had known each other they developed what he considered a friendship. However he was unaware if Annie actually saw it that way. She didn't seem seem annoyed in any way by his presence, as she did with some of the other cadets, but at the same time she wasn't one to get all buddy buddy with . . . pretty much anyone. Surprisingly, Adrian had gotten her to smile a bit, after a short sparring match. As he thought about that day he found himself smiling . As he smiled, he remembered the conversation they had shortly after

"_Why do you always want to spar with me Adrian?" Annie asked him out of nowhere. They were outside in the early morning, just before dawn, on one of their off days. Adrian blinked. "I know that you don't just do this to pass the time." She added. Adrian smiled bit to himself. "Who's to say I don't." "Because, among the reasons the boys wake up early, training isn't one of them. So tell me why." Adrian closed his eyes and turned his head to the sky, thinking to himself. After a few moments he said, "I want to be friends with you." "Are you insane?" She asked. "No, but you're not some that can just be approached normally. . . not to say that there's anything wrong with you, but . . ." She crossed her arms, with slightly annoyed look on her face. "But?" Adrian looked at her. "But, you don't want anyone to get close to you because your afraid of something. I won't automatically assume you've been hurt in the past, nor will I assume that it has something to do with your father. The only thing I've figured out for sure is that, the only sure fire way to get close to you is to spar with you. . ." He stopped a moment. "The only time I ever see your eyes show any kind of excitement is when we spar." Annie clenched her jaw at this response, getting a complex expression on her face. "I can't be friends with someone like you." She said. "Someone who likes playing soldier." Adrian responded. "It's not that I'm playing soldier, realistically when I join the Survey Corps, I'll probably die but . . . I'd rather die out there than in here. I don't have some grand dream of wiping out Titans or anything like that. Looking at the big picture, Humans are more of a threat than titans anyway. Playing soldier, is one of the only ways for me to survive without losing my dignity." Annie looked him in the eyes, searching for . . . something. Any kind of indication that he either a coward, or an idealist or something in between. She didn't see any of those, in fact she saw kind strange logic and reasoning. More wisdom than most people older than him. It was strange, and it intrigued her. Those eyes seemed to see the bigger picture without bias. They also looked her without mistrust, or rather acceptance. _

Annie looked over at Adrian silently noticing his smile. For a moment she wondered what he was thinking about, before she blinked an realized she'd been staring for over a minute at him. Immediately she looked away, realizing that she had gotten hot. She wiped some sweat from her forehead before taking off her jacket and tying it around her waist. She then brushed some hair behind her ear letting out a small sigh as she didn't feel herself cool down. Even though they were in a shaded area, it was relatively warm out, being it the shade while it was better did not protect from the humidity. Annie rolled up her sleeves as well before sitting down on a nearby rock and looking at Mikasa and Thomas. "How much longer?" She asked them. "A few more hours, at this pace we're make good time and we should get to the meeting point ahead of schedule tomorrow. Speaking of which it's time for us to head out again." Annie didn't respond, she merely got back on her horse.

After group headed out Annie was near the back of the group with Reiner and Bertolt, Adrian, Mikasa and Thomas were at the front. "So Annie, why were you staring at Adrian earlier?" Bertolt asked as he looked her, this question caused Bertolt to look at her as well with a puzzled expression. Annie looked over at him, "I was wondering why he was smiling." "For over a minute." He responded. "Really." "Yes." Reiner smirked and chuckled, Annie glared at him; knowing what he was thinking. "Why the look? I didn't say anything."

After a few hours the group made it to where their gear was stored, it was nearly sunset and the sun hung low just above the treeline. Adrian stood off to the side silently as Mikasa spoke to Daz. "You're sure this is where you stored it?" She asked him. "Everything was here, all of it, including our weapons." As a "Over here." Annie said, before gesturing to the remains of a campfire. Adrian kneeled down and touched the remains. "It's cold, whoever was here left a while ago." "It's the same over here." Reiner said, "And we've got tracks." He pointed to them. "If I had to guess a gang of thieves, they probably took the weapons and ODM gear to sell them on the black market." He explained. "Just great." Adrian muttered with annoyance. "If we had been here, we wouldn't have been able to stop them; just be glad your alive." Adrian let out a small sigh, "Noted, whats the plan for getting our gear back?" "Well, they stole our gear a few hours ago right, so that means they probably knew about this training exercise, meaning that they'll probably try to steal the other groups things as well." Thomas pointed out, "The easiest way to do that would be to wait for the others fall asleep and take them by surprise." "Yeah, ok but how does that help us?" "They probably split up, it wouldn't make sense to leave our stuff, in order to get the gear from the other group." Annie nodded. "If that's the case then the group that has our gear would be staying in one place." "To find them we need to get to higher ground." Bertolt chimed in.

It didn't take long for the group to find higher ground. Mikasa sat atop the highest tree looking through a telescope. "I found them." She said, "10 Kilometers east." Thomas nodded. "Ok, Adrian, you, Mikasa, Annie, and Reiner are going to go after our gear. Me and some of the others will back you up." Adrian nodded, "Got it." The small team gathered together before using their ODM.

Adrian flew through the air silently, Mikasa ahead of him leading the way. Reiner and Annie were on either side of him. "So you think the others are alright?" He asked two blondes. "Hard to say." Reiner said, "It seems likely that they are, the thieves won't act until the others are asleep." Annie commented. Adrian nodded, "Ok, then let's get this done quick." They flew through the forest for a few more minutes before stopping. Mikasa once again climbed up a tree and got a good look at the camp with her telescope "There are 6 of them total. . . 2 of them are leaving, they're going towards the river I think." Adrian nodded. "Alright, me and Annie can take them out and get their weapons. "We'll meet back up here, you and Reiner keep watching them." Mikasa and Reiner nodded. "Don't be long."

Annie and Adrian flew through the air silently. When they could see the men, Annie said, "Take the one on the right, I'll take the one on the left. Adrian nodded before using more gas as his wires retracted back into his ODM. He flew at the man and kicked him across the head, knocking him unconscious. Before the other man do anything Annie slammed into his back, knocking him to the ground causing his rifle to be knocked out of his hand. Annie immediately put him into a choke hold. He started to thrash and squeeze her arms before reaching up and scratching at her face. She leaned back to prevent this and succeeded. Adrian walked up with the other man's rifle in hand, as the man Annie had went unconscious. Annie let the man go before getting up. She dusted herself off. "We'll come back to tie him up later." Adrian said. Annie nodded. "And the other one?" She asked. "Unconscious, probably with a concussion" He responded. "Come on, let's go." She said before grabbing the other rifle, and putting the strap on, with the rifle seacured to her back she pressed the triggers of her ODM and flew off. Adrian did the same and followed her.

As they flew Annie thought about Adrian and as well as their fights over the last year. They spared repeatedly over the last year, studying each other's fighting techniques and, at times just enjoying each other's company. However most of the time, just sparing though. There were very few times that they had regular conversations, even then they weren't that long. Whenever Adrian would ask about certain things, Annie would simply deflect the question or change the subject. Things like, what family was like, about her father, etc. He would pry often, but Annie could tell that he wanted to know more about her. It was something she didn't entirely understand. Why try to learn about someone who you'd probably never see again after 3 years, especially since they had different career paths in mind were completely different. Annie was planning to join the Military Police, seeing the Garrison as useless, and the Scouts as being potential suicide. Adrian wanted to join the Scouts, seeing the Garrison just as useless, and the Military as being for those who chose mundanity. Annie didn't want to get to close to him, because he'd probably die in battle, and she didn't want to deal with anymore death, meaning she couldn't afford to get attached to anyone. She remembered her father's words in moments like this, it's what kept her going.

After they pair got back Reiner explained the situation, "So they're preparing to leave huh . . . alright. Lets go get our stuff back." Adrian said. Reiner nodded, "Before we go, Thomas has a plan." "Let's hear it." Thomas and Mikasa walked over to them, "Adrian, Reiner, Annie and Mikasa will take them out individually, meanwhile whoever is left we'll force to surrender with the guns." Adrian nodded understanding. Annie, Reiner and Mikasa nodded as well. "Ok, let's get out gear back."

Adrian flew through the air silently. "We're getting close." Mikasa said, "Split up." Adrian said. The small group of four split up, Mikasa going off to the left with Reiner, Annie went to the right with Annie. Adrian and Mikasa went farther than Annie and Bertolt, ensuring to surround the bandits. Everyone waited for Mikasa's symbol, when she gave it they all moved in. Adrian used his ODM gear, shooting his wires into the farthest trees he saw. He shot ahead, seeing one of the men. As he shot past the trees and his wires returned. In one swift twist he kicked the man in the chest then rolled to the ground, hitting it hard. Before the other men could react to Adrian's sudden appearance, they got taken down as well by Reiner, Mikasa and Annie. Moments later, Thomas along with the rest the group arrived with the guns. As Mikasa questioned the man about the whereabouts of his friends, Adrian, Annie and the rest were getting gear restocked. After a few minutes, Mikasa ran over to Adrian and Annie. "We have to find the other group, according to the bandit, their ODM Gear should have been taken by now and leaving the forest. "Let's go." Annie said before using her ODM gear. Adrian and Mikasa followed

Adrian, Annie and Mikasa flew through the air. At this point it was already night time, and the stars were out. Everything seemed incredibly calm, almost pleasant. This calm was disrupted by a loud crash. The trio immediately changed course heading towards where they heard sound. It took them a few minutes to reach the site. Annie looked over at Mikasa and Adrian. "I'll take out the one with the gun, Adrian take out the one holding Krista, Mikasa take out the one approaching behind Eren and everyone else. Mikasa and Adrian nodded before splitting off.

Annie watched as the man with the gun approached the group of cadets. She used up more gas and shot herself through the air. She came down with her blades, knocking the rifle out of the man's hand. At the same time Adrian spun and knocked the hunting knife out of the other man's hand. He stumbled back and let Krista go. Krista saw a brief flash of anger in Adrian's eyes, the same anger she saw in him when they were kids. As Adrian hit the ground, he spun preparing to slit the man's throat. "DON'T!" Krista yelled. Adrian's blad stopped after slicing partially into the man. A small amount of blood trickled down the blade. Annie glanced over at Adrian for a brief moment, taking note of the small outburst of anger. _Repressed anger?_ She wondered as she stood. Adrian lowered his blade and the man fell down breathing heavily.

After the training incident, both Mikasa and Armin filed reports about everything that happened.

Annie sat across from Adrian in the mess hall during dinner time. She let out a small sigh and suddenly said, "I can respect you." Adrian stopped eating and looked at Annie puzzled. "What?" "I respect you, and . . ." She hesitated for a moment. "You are right. I don't want to get close to anyone." Adrian studied her, very surprised. "Well . . ." He lifted his hand from the table and reached out her. "Shake on it." Now Annie was the confused one. "Excuse me?" "We'll shake on it. We are friends now after all?" She glared at him but shook his hand. "Yes. . . I guess we are, Adrian." Was the blonde woman's only response, along with a small smile. _So . . . this is what it feels like to be normal _she thought to herself. _To be swept up in the current_ . . . _it feels good. _


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - The Cadet Corps Part 3

"_There are no rules in Hunting Jean-boy" _

_Sasha Braus _

One year later - 850, 6 months before Graduation

Adrian walked along with the rest of the cadets into the walled city of Trost. He couldn't help but smile to himself because of this, even though they would only be here about a week. It was a week-long exercise, in preparation for a Titan attack on Trost, he would still enjoy himself. Plus, the scouts moved their headquarters near Trost as well, inside of Wall Rose, so he might see Alexandria too. "So, have any of you been to the walled cities?" He asked Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt. He was walking with them, with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. The trio he walked with looked at him. "No, not like this anyway," Reiner responded. When he said that Adrian remembered back to the restaurant, _That's right, back in Trost. _He thought, thinking back to when he saw the trio and gave Annie the money. He began to wonder if Annie even remembered that small act of kindness. It didn't seem like there was anything actually significant about the gesture, although in a way it was; a few coins made a huge difference for the poor, it could be the difference between going to bed starving, or with food in their bellies. "Well we've got a week so, try exploring it a bit. That's my suggestion at least." Adrian commented before putting his hands behind his head and looking up towards the sky. He tried to think about what he was going to do tonight after training. Maybe training with Annie, but then again she seemed to be not as focused on it now, it was somewhat strange to him. When they first started sparring she nearly broke his arm a few times, choked him at least five times, and nearly broke his jaw. Over the last few months, something seemed to have changed. Annie seemed more . . . angry with him, but during their morning sparring sessions she was being more aggressive.

The fact that Annie seemed to be angry with him, bothered Adrian more than he'd like to admit. Over the 3 years they'd known each other, he had developed feelings for her, granted Annie wasn't the kind of girl that you just poured your heart out to and expected some surprised gasp or a ton of blushing. In truth, Adrian didn't really know how she would react if he ever really did, but given that when they graduated in 6 months he didn't know if he ever would. She was going to the Military Police, he was going to the Scouts. Then again, better late than never.

Annie walked with Adrian, Reiner, and Bertolt. Over the past few months, she had been feeling very strange around Adrian but she didn't know why. That feeling she got angered her, however, as for why was even more of a mystery. The anger she felt seemed to have no real aim, nothing particular about his personality, just Adrian himself that she was starting to hate. Or at least that was what she told herself. Despite her best efforts of keeping her distance she and Adrian got close. In fact, he and Mina were only people she actually considered to be friends, however, Adrian meant more than Mina did. As she walked Annie felt the small journal in her jacket pocket shift slightly, she didn't know why she still had it in the first place given that rarely ever used it, however it was a birthday present from Adrian. She kept it with her all the time, and couldn't really bear to throw it away. . . it made her feel somewhat normal, even though she knew she wasn't. By her very nature she was a loner, distant, she wasn't used to someone genuinely caring about her. Her father did, but he never showed it. The day she left to join the Military, he hugged her and admitted that he was sorry for forcing her to join. He was also sorry about pushing her so much. That was the only form of love that she had ever really known; being pushed to be stronger than anyone. The kind of love that drove you away from the person who said they cared about you, but never showed or said it. With Adrian, it seemed to be different.

The 104th Cadet Corps was taken to the Garrison barracks. Afterward, a majority of them went to the mess hall, being given an hour and a half of break before they had to start their drill. Adrian walked through the shop district silently looking around at the various things that the merchants were selling. He stopped and pulled out his necklace from beneath his shirt. Looking down at it he thought of his parents, before putting it away. He tried to remember all the good times he had with them, although no matter how hard, ultimately he ended up back to remembering their deaths. _Keep moving forward. _Was his only thought before he started walking again before hearing a familiar voice. "Adrian." He turned and saw Krista walking up with Ymir. "Hey, Krista." He said with a small smile, as the blonde got a concerned look on her face. "Are you alright?" She asked. "What do you mean, your eyes are watery." Adrian wiped his eyes. "Thinking about your family again, weren't you. You really need to put that behind you, and forget about them. Crying over them won't bring them back so grow a pair already" Ymir said while placing a hand on her hip, in a very frank tone. "Ymir, he can't just forget them." Krista said with a with angered expression, that still came out as being cute; like an angry kitten. "It's alright, Kris. Much as I hate to admit it she has a point." Ymir and Krista blinked surprised at his response. In the past when Ymir said things like that Adrian got the urge to slap her, of course, he never did because he knew it was wrong. He almost did but Krista stopped him before the hit could land. Ymir tempted him even as he shook with anger, comparing then to now, he understood what she meant. Even if she was insensitive about. Lettings his parent's death just continuously drive him on . . . could have him end up like Eren. Not to say that Eren was a bad guy or anything but, whenever he talked about Titans the tone of his voice hinted at something; uncontrollable rage, and insanity. Ymir's words still bothered him but not to the extent that they did before.

"Glad to see you're finally starting to catch on," Ymir said. "Now Krista let's go see about getting you something." She then started to gently pushed the blonde girl in the direction of a store. "But he's-" "He's fine see? No tears." Adrian felt himself smile a bit but a small bit of sadness crept over him along with the smile. He remembered what Krista told him, about how she ended up joining the military . . . and it wasn't fair to her. However it was the only option she had, she was more of a sister to him than anything else so naturally he was concerned for her wellbeing. Given that Ymir was with her, he didn't really need to. Those two were almost always together, in that way they reminded him of Eren and Mikasa. One is always worried or concerned about the other in some way. Seemed more like love than friendship, then again any blind man could see that Mikasa had deeper feelings for Eren than any friendship, whether or not she herself realized was debatable but there was no point in bringing up the topic. The conversation would be way too awkward, but in any case, the same logic could to a certain degree be applied, Adrian and Annie. After all, they spent a good portion of their time together, they often joined the same squads, studied together, sparred together, and more recently went on walks. The walks themselves weren't very eventful. Just late night walks, Annie didn't really speak and Adrian wasn't the best small talk so not much was ever said. The conversations they did have were, pretty short

Adrian headed into a large courtyard, near the barracks. He sat down on a bench that was at the edge of a large fountain. Giving a yawn and stretch, he looked up at the sky. "Look at you, all grown up." A female voice said. He looked over and saw Diana, she wore a cadet uniform as well, he smiled as she hugged him tightly. When she let go, she was smiling brightly. "So you actually did it." "Of course I did, the 104th Cadets aren't the only ones stationed here. There was a Senior branch stationed near Calaneth, actually from what I hear my branch will be coming here before Graduation." "That's great." Diana was still smiling, she ruffled his hair, "I can't believe that you're so grown up. It's hard to believe you were still that kid who wet the bed." Adrian blushed in embarrassment. "D-Don't bring that up." Diana giggled. "Aw afraid your girlfriend might be listening?" Adrian looked away, not giving an answer. He was feeling really flustered over this, not just the bedwetting portion, but also the bit about the girlfriend. Diana laughed a bit more before saying, "I'm sorry, but still I'm sure you grew out of that." Adrian sighed in slight annoyance. "Please. Never. Bring. That. Up. Again." He almost begged. "Fine Fine, I wouldn't want to ruin your reputation." She said with a small giggle. Adrian let out an annoyed and quiet sigh. Diana continued to smile as she got up, "Gotta go, Adrian." She said. "My regiment starts our City training after yours." Adrian gave a nod, "It was good to see you again Diana." "Good to see you to Adrian." She left.

Annie started to put on her ODM, having been assigned to a squad with Jean, and Armin. At least this training wouldn't be a total waste after all Commander Pixis was supposed to be supervising. The squad that scored the most would likely boost their chances with getting into the Military Police. After getting all of her gear on she headed out with her three-man squad, to their starting location.

Annie waited silently with her blades drawn. At noon the bell went off, it's ringing echoing across the walled city. That was the start of the training exercise. Immediately, Jean began to run forward, out of the original squad formation, forcing Annie and Armin to go after him. It didn't take long for the squad to completely stray from their intended course. "Are you sure we're allowed to push up this far?" Armin asked. "We're supposed to take out the titans that make it through the front line-" "Stop being a boy scout! We're soldiers, that means we kill titans." Jean snapped as he looked back at Armin. They jumped off the building they were on, as they fell through the air Annie said, "Oh please, all you want to do is score brownie points."

The group flew through the air, following Jean's lead. The moment he saw a practice target, Mikasa swooped in and took the kill. He smirked to himself, _Amazing as always, your one of the only people who can outmaneuver me. _He turned mid-air after his wire retracted. "Follow me." Annie and Armin did so, quickly they saw a few more targets. Jean once again smirked to himself. _Your mine! _He thought before a wire shot past him. Adrian flew by with a mocking smirk. Jean's eyes widened as Adrian cut the nape of the target. "To slow Jean-boy." "Damn it," Jean mumbled before going after the second target only to have Connie take it. Before Jean could even head towards one of the others, Reiner and Sasha took them. "You've got to be kidding me!" Jean yelled before rushing off again.

Adrian flew beside Annie and Armin. Bertolt and Ymir were in his squad. "Let me guess, Jean, trying to impress Commander Pixis." Annie gave a nod to Adrian's assumption. "Well . . . good luck that." He gave a small wave before splitting off with his squad. Annie let out a simple sigh, of small annoyance as she and Armin followed after Jean.

"You damn thieves!" Jean yelled. "That was my target!" He was yelling at Sasha, and Connie, who were sitting against the wall. The duo were eating steamed potatoes as they looked up at him. "Thieves? There aren't any rules in hunting." "Don't try to use that crappy hunting logic on me Potato girl." "Potato girl?! I thought everyone forgot about that!" She stood up quickly. "Don't call me names!" "Apologize to her!" Connie said as he stood up as well. Adrian and Reiner walked over. "Well . . . Sasha is right on this one. I mean, I've never been hunting, but logically speaking everything goes. . . plus you were in our area, it was 2 squads per zone." Adrian explained. "Exactly!" Connie agreed before adding, "Your acting strange today Jean," He smirked. "You itching to go see your mommy?" "Oh is that it?" Sasha questioned, "As if!" Jean raised his arm as if to punch one of the pair. Immediately, Sasha and Connie got into combat poses . . . if you could call what did actual combat poses. Sasha put her arms up in a V, and lifted a leg off the ground (Kind the Crane Style stance, I think that's right, not sure)). Connie crouched with a knife in his mouth ((I seriously can't explain what the hell that stance is or how it looks))

Annie watched this along with Armin, as Reiner intervened. "Hey, knock it off you two." He said to Connie and Sasha. "You too, Jean. You won't get into the Military Police acting like a little kid." Hearing Reiner's words Jean clenched his teeth and lowered his fist, "We have more training tomorrow, we'll see who can get the most targets then." "Very interesting!" A voice said. Everyone looked over and immediately gave a salute.

Dot Pixis, the commander of the Garrison Regiment. He was an older man, in his mid to early 50's, he wore the standard Garrison military clothing, which was exactly the same as every other military uniform just with a Rose symbol instead of a Unicorn, or the Wings of Freedom. In addition to all of this, he wore a red sash with a gold lining, along with a bolo tie. "I'll be the judge, your fighting spirit is commendable, however, a simple training exercise isn't a good way to settle your argument." He took out a silver flask and took a swig of the wine inside. "You'll fight by cooking."

Jean blinked, "What?" He asked. Everyone had a puzzled expression on their face. _Is he serious? _Adrian wondered. Pixis repeated himself, "Cooking!" Sasha had a look of glee and happiness on her face. If Adrian remembered right, Sasha was from a hunting village so . . . well in truth going more on assumptions, she would win. At the same time, Jean didn't really seem like the cooking type, not to Adrian anyway. "Yes! A cook-off!" The commander said, making sure everyone heard him. All of the 104th Cadets were puzzled. One of the commander's assistants muttered. "I should have taken his hip flask sooner." The other assistant nodded. Adrian blinked hearing this. _How many flasks does this guy carry?_

"I-I don't mean to be rude Commander Pixis, but we're soldiers cooking isn't-" Jean was cut off by Sasha, who thrust a steamed potato in his face, a determined look in her eyes. "Jean! How much do you even know about cooking?" Connie added on, "Exactly! I bet your mom always cooked for you at home!" She lowered the food, "Jean my boy, I will teach you the true art of cooking." She then took a big bite out of the potato and started to chew while staring directly into his eyes. "Fine then! Cooking, Cleaning, doesn't matter! When I win you stay out of my way!" "Good! The contest will be tonight, you will cook a single main course!" Annie sighed and crossed her arms as a majority of the 104th cheered about the contest. Her only thought was, _I have to deal with this now? All because Jean wants to score brownie points _"Hey Bertolt, mind filling me on what the hell just happened?" Adrian asked while looking at the much taller male. "I . . . don't really know." Was the only response. Adrian sighed, somewhat in relief, "Well . . . at least I'm not involved." While he wouldn't fully admit it, he almost wished he was involved in it. It wasn't often that they did stuff, outside of the norm, and cooking could have fun to do, at least once; eating more than just the usual. Their usual food was always the same, A large roll of bread, a potato, a piece of bacon, and bean soup. Day in and day out that's what their lunch and dinner consisted of. For breakfast, they got two slices of bread, a sunny side up egg, a potato, and a single slice of bacon. Naturally, the portions of these foods were small, enough to get them through the full day. Granted nobody complained about the food, or how much they got. One of the benefits of being a soldier was you got three meals a day, significantly better than starving.

After a few hours, around sunset, Adrian noticed a large crowd gathered. Their training was done for the day, so he was going to buy something for Annie. As he stopped he watched a giant boar being pulled . . . no giant didn't begin to describe this guy. It was a Colossal Class. "Holy shit." He muttered, finding the boar's size almost unbelievable. "For fuck's sake!" He heard Jean yell as he stomped his feet. Adrian held back laughs at the reaction, before looking back at the boar as it was killed. _How the hell did Sasha kill that thing? It's huge! _He thought to himself. "Wonder how Jean's gonna counter that kinda meat?" He said aloud to himself. "Shut it!" Jean suddenly yelled at him. Adrian put his hands up in defense. "Alright, alright, just hope whatever you make can beat rare boar meat, Jean-Boy." He responded, holding back further laughs. Jean walked off with Armin, mumbling angrily.

Adrian walked over to Annie. "So, you're roped into this little competition to huh?" Annie crossed her arms with a slight sigh. "Yes, all because that idiot wants to be favored by the higher-ups." Adrian gave a nod, as he thought about Annie's birthday present. He'd already gotten the small leather bound journal, her name was embroidered in gold on the front, all he needed now, was the necklace. He was getting one made, as something of a replica of his mother's necklace, the one that Alexandria wore the difference is, Annie's would have a smaller red crystal, inside of the blue crystal. (I'm aware they wouldn't have the tech to do this, but hey, it's a fanfiction, a few tweaks here and there won't ruin anything). "Well, guess you should get back to it." Annie let out a nod. "I'll see you later. . . We still going on that walk?" He asked, "Yes." Was Annie's only response, as she walked away a thought entered her mind, _I'm letting him get to close _She knew she had to cut ties with him. She needed to . . . but the question that nagged the back of her mind was could she really do it. She didn't have the answer, and that's what scared her the most right now. She didn't want anyone to be close to her, her cynicism stemmed from everything she saw in her early life. People motivated by their own interests, caring little for more than their own agenda.

Adrian decided to skip out on the food competition, much as he wanted to see what the winning dish was, he'd much rather eat both dishes; and since the only person being served was Commander Pixis he saw no reason to go. As he walked through the streets of Trost wearing his civilian clothes which consisted of a pair of black trousers, a white v neck long sleeved shirt, his necklace which he kept beneath his shirt and a pair of dark brown shoes; he thought about what would happen with Annie. "You're late." A feminine voice said as Annie stepped out from the Alley in front of him. She wore her usual white hoodie, with a pair of dark blue trousers, and a pair of brown boots that almost went up to her knees. Adrian stopped and let out a small chuckle, "Or maybe you're early." She retorted as she crossed her arms. "No, you're late." "Stop being a smartass." She said, giving a small glare. "Fine fine." The pair began to walk side by side down the dimly lit streets of Trost, given how late it was, the shops were closed up and the candlelit streets were giving way to the starry sky, which provided dim light. Adrian wouldn't say this, especially not with Annie standing right next to him, but he found it a little bit romantic. He started to wonder if this was the best time to tell her how he felt. Annie glanced at Adrian and knew he was deep in thought, in the time they knew each other she picked up on the little nuances in his expressions, primarily through their sparring expressions. The way his eyes watched her movements when they fought, the way the muscles in his arms tensed when he threw a punch at her. . . While she never spoke on the matter, she could tell when he was looking, it was like a sixth sense at this point, with him being a male, she knew he looked at her ass and breasts from time to time. Sometimes he was . . . less than discrete about it. If she caught anybody else who was stupid enough to look, like Adrian did, she'd normally ignore it or give a glare that usually put any kind of lewd thoughts to a swift halt. Pretty hard to imagine getting into bed with a girl when she was glaring at you with a look that would kill. Aside from that glare, if someone tried to grab or squeeze . . . well, that resulted in a broken arm or just broken bones in general. The short of it was, she knew Adrian better than he could speculate, and because of that, she knew he was thinking about something. As they walked, she simply asked, "What are you thinking about?" Adrian jumped slightly as he brought out of his thoughts, "Hm? Oh, nothing important." Annie smiled slightly, knowing him as she did, she knew it wasn't, nothing. No offense to Adrian, but he didn't think hard on most things, sure he was intelligent but, compared to Armin or Mikasa, he was about average.

As the pair continued to walk through the streets, Annie thought about the first time they went on a walk. She only agreed to do it because it seemed like something a normal girl would do. Now though, she actually enjoyed the walks she took with him, it made her feel normal. Annie deep down strove for a sense of real normality, wanting to be normal. It was the reason she tolerated and even began to develop feelings for Adrian in the first place. . . Or rather he was only one who was stupid enough and persistent enough in attempting to get to know her. "So, what did Jean and Sasha make for the competition?" Adrian asked, a bit curious as to how that whole thing turned out. "Jean made an omelet, and Sasha made boar steak." Adrian gave a small nod, "I see, so you think Jean got his brownie points?" Annie looked at him with a shrug. "I don't think it mattered. I doubt that Commander even knows Jean's name." Adrian let out a small laugh, before asking, "So, did you enjoy helping Jean cook?" "There wasn't much to help. All he did was cook eggs." "Yeah, I guess you have a point." Things went silent between them again immediately

After a few minutes, Adrian finally asked, "So, what's been up with you lately." Annie looked at him, "You've been a lot more aggressive during sparring." "It's nothing." She said, looking forward. Adrian gave her a look, "You're a terrible liar, something is bothering you." Annie stopped with a sigh, deciding to end this because Adrian would continue to pester her about what was wrong until she either threatened him or told him the truth. Telling the truth was a better option with him because a threat, would lead to him trying to put his hand on her shoulder, which would lead to her pinning him to the wall, then vice versa, and the end result would be another sparring session in the middle of the street. Could she beat him? More than likely, as he often held back and pulled punches when they sparred, however, he could still pin her down, and if a member of the MP saw them in a position such as that, it would attract unneeded attention and a bunch of other potential problems. Annie didn't want to risk that, especially since it would be easy for the MP that found them to say Adrian was trying to rape her. With that said, she told him what was wrong, "I'd rather you not die." Adrian blinked, "What?" Adrian asked, confused as he stopped alongside her. "I rather you did not die outside the walls." Annie felt her heart rate increase as she repeated herself. What she said was, in fact, the truth, but not the whole truth. Adrian smiled a bit. "I knew you cared." He said causing Annie to roll her eyes in slight annoyance. "I just don't want you to become titan fodder, if you're going to insist on playing soldier the least you should do is get a career where you don't have such a high risk of death." Adrian kept that small smile on his face. Annie glared at him when he didn't respond. He then spoke as the smile disappeared. "I know how stupid it is. I know I'll be risking my life-" "And yet you're still going do it." Annie said, cutting him off sharply, that pounding her chest beginning to turn to anger

Adrian thought about how aggressive she had gotten, and what she said explained her actions to a certain degree. "Yes I am, I know it's stupid to do." "Then why are doing it? Even if you don't make into the Top 10, you can still join the Garrison Regiment, and don't you dare give me that Humans are trapped in a cage bullshit. Why do you want to throw your life away for something that you know is pointless?" Annie calm and collected demeanor was starting to break, and with every word, she was trying to keep voice and keep herself from yelling. She hated this. Hated him, why was he such an idiot and why did she care? Why did she give two shits what happened to him? Why did she care if he died? Annie knew the answer as to why she felt the way that she did but she denied it. "Because someone has to do-" Again before he could finish his sentence, Annie cut him off, punching him in the face. As he took the punch she felt her anger grow. As she continued to question herself. _Why? Why? WHY? Why can't I control myself when it comes to you?! _"Just shut up," Annie said simply. "Stop talking. . ." Adrian looked at her, the look on his face was one of curiosity, or rather like he was searching for something, the pain of her punch fresh on his jaw. He gave a simple nod before Annie turned and walked away, not saying anything else, her fists balled up tightly with an angered expression on her face.

/A/N: So tell me what you think of the chapter and what Improvements I can make, also whether you think the relationship between Annie and Adrian seems like its doing ok, whether or not its believable. Aside from that, do you think I'm writing Annie's character correctly? Or does it seem like I'm changing her personality to much. Let me know in a PM or in a review of the chapter. Have a good day/evening, I'll try to get out the next chapter as soon as possible.


	6. Update

Sorry I've been gone so long. Some things happened in my personal life, and plus I started to get lazy. There was also Adrian himself. I couldn't really think of an acutal reason for his existence or why he had his powers in first place. If I'm being honest, looking at the plans I had for him, he was kind of a Gary Stu . . . or rather, wasn't apart of the story in a real way. His actions, while having some impact didn't really drive the story to much. I also had a bit of writers block, when it came to writing characters, well the canon ones anyway. I try to keep the characters as close to their canonselves as I possibly can. But I digress, I have a real plan for Adrian now, well part of one. I have to develop the story further and see how things progress for him, as well as how he will fit into the overall story of AoT, the most I'm going to say is that, it involves The Earth Devil, or Devil of All Earth, if you prefer. So, the next chapter will be up within a week or so, I promise.

10 days at the most, Also, I'll be starting 2 more stories soon. One for Soul Eater, and (Depending on how things are with the game) Code Vein. Soul Eater Wise, I'll likely try and follow the Anime a bit, with some original tidbits here and there. With Soul Eater I'll probably branch off into an original story with some of the major bits staying as they are

Anyway just wanted to show you guys I'm not dead, and that I haven't given up on writing Fanfictions.


	7. Chapter 5

_/ So Gonna be honest, I forgot about this story for quite a while, buuuttttt recent events reminded that I did in fact have this to do. Originally, I had intended to put out this chapter but I struggled with the end part. Seriously, I couldn't think of how to write up Annie and Adrian's bit. Not really the best with all of that so . . . yep. I apologize for the wait, and I hope you enjoy the chapter. I'm gonna try to get this story going again, I try to at least get in 2 chapters a month. Maybe, no promises though. As usual please review and give your thoughts etc. _

**"****_Take a look at these recruits! These are the top of your class, your elite!"_**

**_\- Commander of the 104th Cadet Corps _**

"Give your hearts!" The Commander yelled. "Sir!" Was the response of the entire Cadet Corps as they all gave a salute. Ten of them stood out in front, the top ten. "You have three options open to you when you graduate today! The Garrison Regiment which reinforces and protects each city! The Scout Regiment that risks life and limb to venture into titan territory to reclaim what humanity lost so long ago! And the Military Police which serves the king by policing the people, and keeping the peace! Those who are eligible to join the Military Police have already been named! In order from highest to lowest, Mikasa Ackerman, Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, Annie Leonhart, Eren Jaeger, Jean Kirstein, Marco Bott, Connie Springer, Sasha Braus, and Krista Lenz!" Adrian whom had been ranked 15th, couldn't help but smile at hearing, Annie, Mikasa and Eren's names. Not one but three of his friends made it into the top ten, so he couldn't help but be happy for them, at the same time, whatever chances of him joining the military police were gone. The truth of it was, Adrian in the back of his mind always had doubts about joining the Scouts. It was suicide, and he was aware of the dangers and it scared him. Yeah he never openly said he had doubts but. . . . it was always there. For as good as he was, he didn't have Eren's tenacity or drive. He was nowhere near as smart as Armin, and definitely wasn't as good or as strong as Mikasa. Those three were, well exceptional. Then again all of his friends were, they were capable, but Adrian . . . taking down dummies was one thing but actual titans? That was something Adrian didn't know if he was ready for. As things went, he still had some time to choose. Two days, not really much time but he'd try to work things out, maybe he could talk to one of the others and see what they thought.

Adrian sat by himself as he watched the others celebrate. He wore his plain clothes, a simple dark blue long sleeved shirt, with black trousers and brown boots. He wore his red necklace beneath his shirt as well. It was a satisfying feeling finally graduating from the Cadet Corps. Annie sat down with a cup apple cider across from him. "So, you're still planning on joining the Scouts?" She asked the brunette. "I'm . . . not really sure. If I'm being honest, I don't even know why I wanted to join the scouts in the first place. . . what about you, you think you'll be contempt being a member of the Military Police?" He responded, as Annie removed her hand from the handle of her cup and said, "It's the best chance of survival. Better to play the game than be the fool trying to change the world. You could just join the Garrison." Annie wouldn't call Adrian a coward for his doubts, in fact she was glad he wasn't as stupid as he seemed. Worrying about one's own safety was a basic instinct. "Considering my options . . . I'll just stick to the Scouts." Annie studied him, "And that's what you want to do?" Adrian nodded. For a moment Annie felt some fear, that she immediately stuffed down. "You know that trying to fight them pointless." Adrian looked up at Annie before smiling a bit. "Now that doesn't sound like you." Annie blinked, taken off guard by his response."What's that supposed to mean?" "Well . . ." He trailed off. "Your a fighter. I know it's something you like doing, part of what drives you . . . but you saying something like that makes me . . . kinda happy." Annie's eyes widened before she closed them and regained her composure. "I'd just rather not have you die, like that suicidal maniac." Adrian smiled more. "Will you stop smiling, it's annoying." Annie said, "I can't help it, that's like the closest you've ever come to saying you care about me." Annie didn't respond for a moment before she said, "I never said that I didn't care about you." "Yeah, but it's not like you ever gave any indication before." Annie rolled her eyes before saying, "Come with me." She stood up, and walked off, he followed.

Annie lead him out into the street, then into a nearby alley. Annie had her back to him the whole time, she felt off. Annie was angry with herself over this feeling, it was just . . . it felt like her stomach was twisting into knots, and her chest felt like it was going to explode. _Damn it why did it have to be like this? _She thought to herself as her brows furrowed a bit while walked, this didn't make sense to her, she wasn't some naive girl foolishly swooning over some doe eyed idiot. The let out annoyed sigh before turning to Adrian. Before he could react she covered his eyes, and then he felt something soft press against his lips. Annie was kissing him, and she felt fear rise up in her as she kissed him. After what seemed like forever, she pulled away, slowly moving her hand from his eyes. He looked at her, wide eyed, not understanding. Annie glared at him, "What's with the wide eyed look Adrian." She asked. Adrian closed his mouth and responded, "That was uh . . . out of nowhere. I didn't think that you were that kind of girl." Her glare intensified, as her brow furrowed more. "By that you mean?" "W-Well uh . . . . I mean you're not the kind of girl to-" "Show affection." Annie said cutting him off. "I know, look you know me well enough to know I don't do, or like stuff like this. I'm not one of those naive idiots that gets attached the first boy that sends a smile their way. If I'm being honest, I hate the way you make me feel, and honestly I started to hate you for it." Adrian blinked at a loss here. She kisses him then tells him that she hates the way he makes her feel. When Adrian didn't respond, Annie asked, "Are you going to say something or not?" Adrian snapped out of his daze and nodded. "Yeah, sorry." He sighed and said, "I guess you know huh." "I've known for a while." She responded as she crossed her arms while looking in his eyes. Adrian blushed before sighing, he cupped Annie's chin before kissing her. This time she was caught off guard. Annie's eyes widened. _Damn it Adrian _She thought, feeling more fear than the first time. When Adrian pulled away she was the speechless one. "I guess . . . if this is gonna be our last night together then, we should get everything out into the open." He said.

Annie didn't blush, honestly she expected it, but still wasn't fully prepared for it, but honestly she liked the way he kissed . . . though she didn't exactly have much experience so it wasn't very important; their paths would be divulging soon, and it was likely that they wouldn't see each other alive after he joined the Scouts. On a more serious note, she wanted to get this out of the way. Adrian was incredibly persistent in trying to get to know Annie. Like, to an almost annoying extent. At first Annie tried to brush him off, but after a while, his presence became less annoying and more tolerable. Without realizing she started to care about him, then began to have feelings for him. It annoyed her, a lot. "Alright . . . say whatever you need to." Annie said simply. Adrian was silent for a minute or two, making Annie feel more uncomfortable than she already was. He couldn't really find the words he wanted to say, and it annoyed him greatly. With a sigh he responded, "Annie, I . . ." He choked a bit, just unable to say, what really wanted to. "Yeah . . . I think . . . I think this is enough. . . after all we're heading down different paths, and mine well, it will probably get me killed. If I'm being totally honest, I would . . . I would love to see where this would have gone." He trailed off. He was saddened by this but it made sense, after all, much as he'd try to deny it, there was a pretty good chance he'd die, and since the route of the Military Police wasn't open. He didn't want to join the Garrison, simply because he didn't want to act as a guard for the rest of his life, if was in the Top Ten . . . maybe he would have joined Annie in the MPs. Annie gave a nod. "So we have an understanding?" "Yeah." "Then we should get back." Annie responded before feeling Adrian's lips against her again. Once again, now genuinely caught off guard by this action, however, she didn't make any moves to pull away or to stop this kiss; leaning into it in fact, deciding to just allow this to happen. She considered this to be a . . . premature farewell gift of sorts, not only for him, but for herself as well. Adrian was the first person to make her feel the way she did at this very moment. Completely normal, . Which is all she really ever wanted to be. Her seemingly cold exterior and extremely realistic outlook, most times prevented her from being "Normal" in a manner of speaking, but after what she went through in her past and how strict her father was, her Normal wasn't the same as everyone else's; however this moment. This kiss seemed like something a normal girl would go through with a normal boy; having some emotional moment then having her first kiss. As a whole, it felt like a good experience, at least just this once, with the only person who seemed to not judge her, change her in any way. It was a shame really, that things couldn't continue between them, but Reality was a bitch and the world was cruel. Annie always knew she wouldn't get a happy ending, no matter what she did, just wasn't in the cards. Fate was even more cruel than the world or reality could ever be.

The next day the 104th cadets gathered along with a lot of the citizens to watch the Scouts return from their most recent expedition. Adrian stood next to Annie, Bertolt and Reiner, looking amongst the Scouts for his older sister. After spotting her, he smiled to himself seeing her, happy she survived. Annie glanced over at him, seeing that all to familiar smile. She knew the story of what happened his parents, and on occasion wondered what it felt like to know that someone you love, might never come back every time left. Given their conversation last night, the blow would be lessened but . . . that wouldn't make things any easier. _Is this how my father felt?_ She wondered to herself, as she looked down at her hand, thinking back to the day before she left to join the military before then shaking her head. _Now's not the time to be thinking about any of that. I promised him I'd return so that's what I'm going to do._ When the crowd cleared, and everyone went to their posts, Adrian being posted to the wall and Annie being posted further in at the Garrison headquarters.

Annie walked through the headquarters silently she had been assigned to clean the equipment, with Reiner, Bertolt, Ymir, Krista, and Jean, as well as a few other cadets. Once she arrived, she immediately got started with her duties. As she cleaned the gas tanks, she overheard Jean speaking to another cadet that Annie knew but had little knowledge of. "So Jean you still planning on joining the Military Police?" The cadet asked, while looking at Jean. Jean stopped scrubbing the floor a moment and looked up the cadet, "Of course I am, don't tell me that suicidal bastard actually convinced you to join." "Well . . . Jean I think he kind of had a point. I mean, he wasn't wrong . . . and I've been thinking. The Colossal Titan hasn't appeared in 5 years but there's no telling when it will show up again. Somebody has to fight it when it shows up again." "The Garrison Regiment can, it's their jobs, and if they fail then there's the Military Police." Jean retorted, before the cadet he was talking to, pointed out, "The Military Police won't be able to do anything, you know they won't, they've been out of training for years."

Annie admittedly, agreed with the cadet, everyone knew the MP were effectively useless, however joining them guaranteed you got 3 meals a day, a warm bed, job security, and a 100% chance of being safe in case of another Titan Attack. It was the way of the world, and the way of nature. If you gave a person the choice to live in safety, or go out and risk their lives; most of the time people would choose safety. Annie did have respect for those that chose to stick to their convictions, such as Eren. She held more respect for Eren than she did Adrian; she speculated that the reason Adrian wanted to join the Scout Regiment not only to see the outside, but also because it was a family tradition. From what she knew of his family, his parents and sister joined the Military, and the Scouts specifically. So did his Aunt and his grandmother, whom had joined the Military Police. Eren on the other hand, while also wanting to stupidly kill all the titans, also wanted to see the outside world, not because of some sense of familial obligation, but because he wanted to; because he wasn't contempt with sitting in a cage living the life of cattle. With Eren, he had true conviction, that drive to go against the normal set restrictions placed on everyone. Despite how stupid his dream of destroying all the titans was, he stuck to his convictions despite what everyone said. As Annie continued to wipe down, and refuel the tanks before a loud crash, like thunder echoed through the City of Trost. She stood as the ground, "Damn it." She muttered before rushing outside, along with the rest of the soldiers, just in time to see some of the debris flying through the air and slam into some of the buildings. The Colossal Titan had returned.

Three minutes after the Colossal Titan disappeared, a bell sounded, it's sound heard echoing through Trost, the citizens were beginning to be evacuated by the Garrison Regiment. As this happened, canon fire could be heard as well. The Garrison were getting mobilized and trying to hold back the Titan avance in order to buy time for the citizens. Within the Garrison of Trost, Adrian rushing to find his ODM gear, having forgotten where he placed it, as he did so, he noticed a pair of Cadets embracing in a tight hug. He remembered those two being boyfriend and girlfriend. He didn't blame them for trying to comfort each other, it made sense. Looking away from the couple, he ran to the armory and began to look through the various ODM gears. One would think you could take someone else's gear and put it on, and you could, however everyone did little things to make their ODM gear, thiers. Usually, someone could alter the triggers to their own personal preference, some would make sensitive others, dulled. Adrian spotted his gear and got it on quickly. As he rushed out of the armory he spotted Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie together, filling their gas tanks. They appeared to be talking about . . . something. Granted Adrian didn't think much of it, a lot of people were talking about the wall falling. "Move it soldier!" A voice called out towards him, he immediately started moving again, heading out to the courtyard.

The members of the 104th lined up in the courtyard, as Captain Kitz gave them the battle plan, Adrian was put in the rear guard with the rest of the cadets. As he searched for his squad mates, he felt a hand grip down on his shoulder. He turned and saw it was Annie. "Before this starts, we need to talk." Something seemed like it was off about her voice. She still held that same monotone voice, but when you knew someone and got to know them over the course of three years, you learned to notice subtle changes in their voice. It wasn't the aggressive tone she'd had a few weeks ago, Adrian gave a nod, it wouldn't be the end of the world till the titans fully took Trost, so it wouldn't matter too much if he and Annie talked.

After the conversation, Annie let out a simple sigh, the feeling of his lips lingering on her own as she walked away, intending to meet up with her squad. She tried to push all thoughts of him to the back of her mind. He was more than likely going to die during this attack, if he didn't then surely in the months that followed when people from Wall Maria were sent to Wall Sina. As she arrived, she noticed Bertolt giving her an unfamiliar look, he looked conflicted, yet angry. "What is it Bertolt?" She asked in an annoyed tone, not in the mood for his or Reiner's bullshit. She knew what had to be done . . . she hadn't forgotten. When this was all over, how she felt about Adrian, wouldn't matter. In a world such as this, there wasn't any room for romantic relationships.


End file.
